Ladd, IL & LaSalle County Fried Chicken nor far off I-80

Welcome to LTHforum! It's wonderful to have a new addition someone who knows Illinois beyond Chicago.

It's interesting you highlight local bars as the place to head to for very local food. I was in Magnolia, IL for the Illinois State Morel Championship at the beginning of May. I was taking pictures of Pasta Fritta, which was being offered for sale. It looked more like an Elephant Ear, instead of butter and cinnamon-sugar they sprinkled cheese. I wasn't interested in buying one, so I was taking pictures instead through their screen window. Business was slow, so they were happy to chat about their business.

Pasta Fritta

I’m not quite sure what triggered this comment during our conversation, “In LaSalle County the local bars are very competitive over their fried chicken. Fried chicken is more competitive in LaSalle County than in Chicago!” She explained the bars use their fried chicken expertise to attract customers. She wasn’t very specific which bars had which chicken, but I recognized this was a pretty good tip.

I walked over to shelter where a church group was selling pies, sloppy joes, which they referred to as BBQ sandwich and an apple drizzled with caramel dessert. We’d gotten pretty friendly over the day, I was amongst the first to shop their pies and they checked out my booth. I leaned over and asked them if there was a regional fried chicken competition. “Oh, you mean in bars, yes, especially in LaSalle County!” Rumor confirmed! I asked if they could recommend any chicken and received these two finds:

Ripp’s Tavern in Ladd serves their fried chicken with a serving of cracklin’s. I called a friend who lives in the region. She had been to Ripp’s and considered it the greasiest chicken she ever encountered. Something the church people warned me about, then said once you get past the grease it tastes soooooo good.

Smitty’s in Lenore specialty is chicken wings. Just before serving and depending on your choice, they will dip the wings in BBQ sauce or garlic butter. My local contact had not yet been to Smitty’s but was somewhat disgusted by the garlic butter dip. Gee, I was getting quite thrilled at the thought!

I don’t know what county Deer Grove, IL resides. I was there with ErikM and my local friends after a day of apple picking and cidering. Where did we end up? At a bar eating fried chicken, here is an excerpt:

Cathy2 on October 21, 2003 wrote:Afterwards, Erik, my friends who live near Amboy and I went for dinner at Arnie's Happy Spot in Deer Grove. This is the type of town where you drove through it before you realized you had been there. Arnie’s is on the edge of this small town. In the parking lot there is a permanent parking space reserved for the bride and groom. The restaurant is like a lot of Veteran of Foreign War posts: a large room with a bar along one side, booths on the other side and tables in the center. All table surfaces were covered in colorful and practical plastic tablecloths. My local friend knew half of the people present and motioned us to sit the maximum distance away. In communities where everyone knows everyone else, there is not always too much privacy. So much for observation, we were there to eat.

For appetizers, we ordered fried cauliflower, because none of us had ever had fried cauliflower as an appetizer. The cauliflower looked like fried cauliflower, but the exterior hid a wee surprise: cheese! These were cheddar cheesy fried cauliflower, which were accompanied by ranch dressing. Unexpectedly good. Our appetizer was followed by an iceberg lettuce salad. I choose their homemade, or rather adapted, fresh cucumber ranch dressing: grated cucumber in ranch dressing. This was a refreshing dressing on an iceberg lettuce and I don’t particularly like iceberg lettuce. Our main course was the fried chicken recommended by Erik. Of course, in a style I’m sure Erik learned from Harold’s, Erik ate his chicken with Tabasco sauce. This was a very lightly coated and well -cooked fried chicken fresh from the fryer. It was a very good fried chicken lacking in only one element: salt! Delicious as it was, I’d rather the salt was in the batter than having to sprinkle as I go.

The land between the Chicago Regional metropolis and the Mississippi is drive through territory for most of us. However, getting off the expressway and meandering through these small towns has many undiscovered treasurers.

Maybe 15 years ago, I was in Cairo, Illinois touring a restored mansion. Afterwards, I asked where to eat. They directed me to a Hardy’s. I rephrased my question, “You’ve been away for 3 months. You just returned home and this is the first place you want to visit. Of course, it is not the place you’d bring out of town visitors.” I was directed to a bar which made a fine pulled pork type sandwich.

I concur tcdup that the local bars are the places to go. I hope you will continue to provide such useful information. Thank you!

Cathy2 wrote:Smitty’s in Lenore specialty is chicken wings. Just before serving and depending on your choice, they will dip the wings in BBQ sauce or garlic butter. My local contact had not yet been to Smitty’s but was somewhat disgusted by the garlic butter dip. Gee, I was getting quite thrilled at the thought!

The Bride has spent a lot of time in Streator of late, and we did eat out once down there, though I insisted we make the drive up to Ottawa. I managed to get the proprietress of the Hickory House to list the places she thought were good (the Hickory House makes mediocre barbecue, but decent burgers and sandwiches) around town. Sounded like her favorite was Anne's Hideaway, listed as follows by the local Chamber of Commerce:

I think there are some pretty good places in Ottawa, LaSalle and Peru, based on my brief visits. But they are really off I-80, not I-55, so I am not sure if that would help here. I also have not tried most of them, but I hear things, and since you started talking about LaSalle County...

Anne's hideaway is my husbands favorite place for fried chicken. I'm not a fried chicken lover, but I will order it there. The place is old and exactly what you would think a 1960 type place would be like. An old bar, an old bartender and some of the wait staff has been there for decades. A really fun place to people watch as well. The food is old fashioned and wonderful. We went there for my husbands birthday in May, had a few glasses of wine each and a full chicken dinner and our bill was $22.00! Too bad its such a long drive, but really worth it.
I really like the old downtown area of LaSalle as well and Uptown Grill is always a great place to go!

Cathy2 wrote:Ripp’s Tavern in Ladd serves their fried chicken with a serving of cracklin’s. I called a friend who lives in the region. She had been to Ripp’s and considered it the greasiest chicken she ever encountered. Something the church people warned me about, then said once you get past the grease it tastes soooooo good.

I finally had my opportunity to visit Rip's, which was quite an interesting experience. I went with my friends who live in the area whose initial thoughts on Rip's were greasiest chicken ever.

We walked in after 8:30 PM on a Friday evening. We saw tables were available in the dining area so we beelined toward them. However, a waitress acting as lionness at the gate wouldn't let us seat ourselves until we placed our food order. Once we had given our food order, then she told us to wait. We watched her place our order with the kitchen, tidy up a table for us, then she escorted us to our table.

I saw in the rear was an open kitchen with big picture window for the cooks to watch us and us watch the cooks. I walked over with my camera to watch, though I never took any pictures. They had a large pot with a seasoned flour slurry in it. To prepare our fried mushrooms, they dipped mushrooms in the slurry then use a spoon to fish them out and toss them into the fryer. As they tossed the mushrooms, an arc of seasoned flour slurry droplets fell into the fryer. The chicken and fish were also coated in this slurry and tossed into the fryer. Truthfully, I am not sure if they had slurry dedicated to mushrooms, fish and chicken or whether it all came from the same pot. It just seemed like it came from the pot.

The complimentary cracklin's everyone had told me about in advance, were not precisely cracklin's. They were the fried droplets of the seasoned flour slurry fried to perfection:

The next plate to arrive was the coleslaw, which came with a fork. This was a creamy coleslaw with a vinegar undertone, which cut the accumulating grease in your stomach.

The freshly dipped and fried mushrooms were terrific simply because they were really fresh instead of the common variety fresh from the freezer. Naturally they tasted a bit like our cracklin's simply because they were born from the same slurry.

When we ordered our fried chicken, we could choose from dark or light. Dark was priced at $3, while light was $3.50 and a much bigger portion. Fresh from the grease, these chickens were very hot. I inquired with the waitress if I could have a knife. She looked surprised explaining, "We have no knives. You only got a fork because you ordered coleslaw." I guess I should have known not to expect a knife.

Dark

Light

These chicken pieces were pretty large sized, though expertly cooked with nothing overdone or worse underdone. Again there was the sameness to the crust from all the fried foods being dipped in the same seasoned flour slurry.

None of us had fish, though the portions walking past us looked very good.

If a dessert was offered at Rip's, I am unaware of it. We were full from our dinner and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the quantity of fried food just eaten.

The next day I was at Henry for the Illinois State Morel Hunting Championship. I found the couple who recommended Rip's last year and told them how much I enjoyed the experience. They were quite tickled I remembered and actually followed through on their advice. A woman in her late 30's overheard our conversation who happened to be from Ladd. She advised us she has been going to Lanuti's for their fried chicken and Italian for over 35 years. When I inquired if she had ever been to Rip's, she claimed never to have set foot in there. While I admire her loyalty, I think it would not have hurt her to try the competition at least once. I wondered if the town is split between Rip's and Lanuti's loyalists.

When we returned to the car, there was another store front with a sign reading something like, 'Fried Chicken USA.' It was a defunct business. While this was Bureau County, it did underline the advice from last year, "The bars all compete by offering variations of fried chicken in LaSalle County." Obviously the fried chicken wars are not contained to LaSalle.

Great pictures of Rip's! I grew up in the area and these pictures have made me a little homesick. (not something that happens easily or often!)

I would highly recommend that you give Lanuti's a try the next time you are in the area. It is a great little tavern/restaurant that is run by a couple that appear to be in their eighties. (He works the bar and she waits tables.) The chicken at Lanuti's is different than Rip's, (less batter) but is still very good. Although I love the chicken from Rip's, we usually end up at Lanuti's as Lanuti's has some items that are not deep-fried. As with most places back home, we order the chicken "family style" (not available at Rip's) which means that you also receive two pastas, fries, bread to share along with individual salads. (I was at Lanuti's about a month ago, and I think that it is around $10 per person for family style.) Ordering family style will give you the opportunity (if you have not had it previously) to order the North Central Illinois pasta oddity known as "Ravioli". (aka: "raviola" or "ravs") Ravioli in North Central Illinois are what are known by everyone else in the world as "tortellini". The sauces are usually nothing special, (I have tried to duplicate the standard area pasta sauce I grew up having and believe that it is usually just high-fat ground beef mixed with a can of tomato sauce) but the "ravioli" are usually locally made (sometimes home-made) and good. (In any case, it goes very well with the chicken.)

An additional note: Lanuti's menu states that they sell more turtle than any other restaurant in Illinois. (I have never tried it, so I cannot vouch for it.)

Also; It doesn't surprise me that the woman you met from Ladd had never eaten at Rip's. People in the area seem to stay very loyal to taverns and restaurants. (sometimes over generations) I believe that it is at least in part due to the fact that these are small towns and you probably actually know the owners of the establishments and choose accordingly. (I myself didn't eat at either Rip's or Lanuti's until I was out of college and could decide for myself; Growing up, we normally ate at the same places over and over again even though there are a lot of choices in the area for the small number of people.) Even now, when you go to some of these places, it feels like you are intruding on some private club.

Thanks for the really home grown information. My friends live in Sublette near Amboy. They eat at home more often than not because they found little they liked about the local food.

It is still my desire someday to go over to Amboy, which has (or had?) a fast food in a former Dairy Queen-ish structure. It is entirely staffed by local woman who begin to cook your order after it was placed. Not exactly fast, though really picturesque. Depending on the time of year, you can get chicken and dumplings. I have yet to come at the right time nor since I had a digital camera. I just did a quick check, I think the place is called:

Snack & Go
305 East Bluff Street
Amboy, IL 61310
815-857-3500

Dabney wrote:Ordering family style will give you the opportunity (if you have not had it previously) to order the North Central Illinois pasta oddity known as "Ravioli". (aka: "raviola" or "ravs") Ravioli in North Central Illinois are what are known by everyone else in the world as "tortellini".

The Lanuti's fan made a point about the ravioli. While I admit I was thinking food service ravioli. What you have described is certainly worthy of a visit sometime soon. FYI - Our meal at Rip's with a generous tip came to $8 per person.

Even now, when you go to some of these places, it feels like you are intruding on some private club.

People were not obviously gawking. However when I was talking to my friend about the Electric Museum in Zion, which has since closed. I caused heads to turn by commenting, "You know I am a serial museum visitor. If I like the place, I will return again and again. I only went once to the Electric Museum because it was so poorly executed." My friend later told me the guy behind physically turned around to see who said that.

***

I have Lanuti's on the list for a future visit. My friends and I already have our next dining spot chosen: a steak house where you cook your own steak at a grill. Do you know what place they are referring to? What did you think?

I hope in the future you will tell us more about the restaurants where you grew up. You never know who may visit them someday!

I’ll preface this by saying that I am queue-averse—if I see a line, be it at a bar, a club, a bank, or a restaurant, I usually walk away. I’m impatient. And prone to public fits if the blood sugar is low enough. But after reading Cathy2’s post on Rip’s Tavern, I recently stood in line for an hour and a half for friend chicken (two if you count placing the order in line and waiting at the table for the order to arrive). Fortunately, fraternizing with people in line while drinking beer seems to be as much a part of the appeal of Rip’s as the chicken. And, as one guy put it, “It’s a three beer line”, so by the time you actually get to the chicken, it almost doesn’t matter.

The chicken has an oily and deliciously light, crispy coating, but I like a little more punch in the seasoning, so I doused it in hot sauce. I can hardly top the photos already posted, but I can offer this nugget of local wisdom picked up in the aforementioned beer/new friend line: “crispies”, the basket-o-fried giblets, are best consumed in a slice of pickle.

Pickle Crispie Taco

For anyone considering a side-trip to Ladd, I recommend hitting Lanuti’s instead if you’re starving and not prepared to stand in line. The fried chicken has a more skin-centric coating (not the “slurry”), and although I haven’t tried it yet, the place is apparently famous for its turtle. I was told they sell more turtle in the state of Illinois than any other restaurant.

We met the owners, a sweet woman named Dina (a Lanuti), who waits tables every day, and her husband, John, who sits at the bar and is eager to chat up anyone who wants to know about the restaurant or local history. Dina was born in the back of the restaurant (when the back of the restaurant was a home…not a kitchen). The place has been around since 1906. They also have the most authentic, retro-without-meaning-to-be-retro bar I’ve seen.

John and Dina

And the bartenders know how to pour a proper drink:

Still Life with Old Fashioned

If you do go to Rip's on a Friday or Saturday night, I strongly recommend getting there by 5 or 5:30 to miss the worst of the line, which was out the door by the time we arrived at around 6.

On our way to our fav. restuarant for chicken in that area (Annies Hideaway, Naplate) we go buy a rest. that features turtle. It's either in Seneca or Marseilles on route 6, called Johnny K's. I'm sorry I don't remember which town, they look a lot the same. We hear from friends that enjoy turtle that it's very good there. Just fyi, since I haven't eaten there myself and don't care for turtle.

Well, the way John tells the story, Lanuti's was the first in the area to serve turtle--on Friday's during lent, as change of pace from the usual fish. It was such a hit, other restaurants took note and started serving turtle, but none was a match for Lanuti's recipe. Eventually, the 'imitators' stopped serving it, but Lanuti's has been serving it since they started.

This place is seriously the kind of restaurant where time stopped. As much of an experience as Rip's was, Lanuti's is more my speed. The slice of history that comes with whatever you order is worth the detour.

crrush wrote:For anyone considering a side-trip to Ladd, I recommend hitting Lanuti’s instead if you’re starving and not prepared to stand in line. The fried chicken has a more skin-centric coating (not the “slurry”), and although I haven’t tried it yet, the place is apparently famous for its turtle. I was told they sell more turtle in the state of Illinois than any other restaurant.

We met the owners, a sweet woman named Dina (a Lanuti), who waits tables every day, and her husband, John, who sits at the bar and is eager to chat up anyone who wants to know about the restaurant or local history. Dina was born in the back of the restaurant (when the back of the restaurant was a home…not a kitchen). The place has been around since 1906. They also have the most authentic, retro-without-meaning-to-be-retro bar I’ve seen.

John and Dina

That picture above beautifully captures the character of Lanuti's. It's a wonderful place, one of my favorite taverns in Illinois. I'd consider it worth a visit just to have John draw me a little $1 glass of beer.

As crrush mentioned they are known for turtle. I don't believe I've ever seen a neon "turtle" sign before.

It's served in large chunks, on the bone, simply breaded and fried. I can't say I loved Lanuti's turtle but it was my first chance to truly experience the meat. The other times I've tried it, the meat was in tiny pieces or masked in sauce. Even if you don't order the turtle (but you should if you're curious) Lanuti's is an essential stop for fans of old taverns.

Rene G wrote:That picture above beautifully captures the character of Lanuti's. It's a wonderful place, one of my favorite taverns in Illinois. I'd consider it worth a visit just to have John draw me a little $1 glass of beer.

Motivated by the thought of fried turtle, and Crrush's evocative photo, we attempted to go to Lanuti's during a recent excursion to the area, though they were closed at 8:30 on a Thursday night. Dave, one of the owners at Rip's across the street, mentioned one of the couple, he did not specify which, had been under the weather and the hours were slightly erratic.

Speaking of Rip's, I thought the place terrific, big bar in front with a utilitarian, but comfortable, dining room in back anchored by an open kitchen with a 15-food bank of deep fryers.

We were, to say the least, a bit full from Ron's Cajun Connection but the lure of fried chicken and fried crispies was strong. Portions large, chicken moist, crust extra crisp and greaseless, damn good fried chicken.

I called Lanuti's today, their answering machine advised they are on the annual shutdown vacation. They did not advise when they will reopen, ratther they suggested call in advance to assure they are open before driving out.

thanks for the heads up Kathy, after taking our daughter trick-or-treating at Peru Mall tonight we are going out for fried chicken, saves us a drive over to Ladd, and we will probably end up over @ Monari's 101 in Lasalle for their $7 half mixed chicken with soup, and choice of potato. They also have an interesting deep fried stuffed olive apetizer.

I love Smitty's Broasted Chicken, has anyone had there wings or tenderlions? They are awesome... Lunch time is amazing with the soups they make homemade. I love the potato with hot sausage soup, and the sausage soup with ravolis, but my new fav's are the creamy chicken with gnoochi and the blt soup.... You have too try them!

kevin100 wrote:I love Smitty's Broasted Chicken, has anyone had there wings or tenderlions? They are awesome... Lunch time is amazing with the soups they make homemade. I love the potato with hot sausage soup, and the sausage soup with ravolis, but my new fav's are the creamy chicken with gnoochi and the blt soup.... You have too try them!

sorry I didn't make it clear to where smitty's was, as the other poster posted yes it is Leonore, Il .. I was in there for lunch today and had the tenderloin that thing was the biggest tenderloin I ever had...

kevin100 wrote:sorry I didn't make it clear to where smitty's was, as the other poster posted yes it is Leonore, Il .. I was in there for lunch today and had the tenderloin that thing was the biggest tenderloin I ever had...

thanks, I have to work on my reading comprehension skills, I totally missed it the first time around.

Since I live in Marseilles, Leonore is really close I have to get over there and try one of Smitty's tenderloins.

Although we were dead tired on our way back to Chicago from Peoria on Saturday night, I had remembered jimswide’s recommendation about Monari’s 101 in LaSalle (address upwards in thread), so we called ahead for a 7:30 reservation and then stopped for dinner. It’s an older, low-slung building almost on the train tracks, certainly a blast from the past.

We walked into the packed bar and watched the basketball game while the owner Earl Monari was in constant motion, pouring cocktails, directing Saturday-night-out couples into the small dining room and bussing tables as well. Interestingly, everyone was laughing, cutting up with Earl & enjoying themselves immensely, which is saying a lot in an economy which has to have hit LaSalle County hard.

It would be very hard to spend a lot of money here. Two double Absoluts, two Diet cokes and a their fried olive appetizer while sitting at the bar was $10.50. Their spaghetti dinner, a quarter chicken dinner & a half chicken dinner, both broiled, was $30. It was fine, no-nonsense fare with a side of goodwill, always welcome in these times. Although we were total strangers when we walked in, Earl sat down with us a couple times and personally explained the long history of Monari’s, from outpost bar to gambling den/speakeasy to his stint as an accountant to now second-generation restauranteur.

jnm123 wrote:Although we were dead tired on our way back to Chicago from Peoria on Saturday night, I had remembered jimswide’s recommendation about Monari’s 101 in LaSalle (address upwards in thread), so we called ahead for a 7:30 reservation and then stopped for dinner. It’s an older, low-slung building almost on the train tracks, certainly a blast from the past.

We walked into the packed bar and watched the basketball game while the owner Earl Monari was in constant motion, pouring cocktails, directing Saturday-night-out couples into the small dining room and bussing tables as well. Interestingly, everyone was laughing, cutting up with Earl & enjoying themselves immensely, which is saying a lot in an economy which has to have hit LaSalle County hard.

It would be very hard to spend a lot of money here. Two double Absoluts, two Diet cokes and a their fried olive appetizer while sitting at the bar was $10.50. Their spaghetti dinner, a quarter chicken dinner & a half chicken dinner, both broiled, was $30. It was fine, no-nonsense fare with a side of goodwill, always welcome in these times. Although we were total strangers when we walked in, Earl sat down with us a couple times and personally explained the long history of Monari’s, from outpost bar to gambling den/speakeasy to his stint as an accountant to now second-generation restauranteur.

We tried to get out to Smitty's in Leonore for lunch yesterday, but they only serve lunch from 11:00 - 1:00, so we turned around when we knew we were not going to make it, and ended up at the Ottawa Chinese Buffet..

I got outvoted(I wanted to head to a bar and have a few drinks and a burger, but my wife and toddler form a larger voting block than I), also it being a Monday lunchtime most of the good places out in the Ottawa area either arn't open for lunch, or are only open for dinner.

Good news. I read online (The News Tribune from LaSalle) that Lanuti's is reopening after being closed for the last four months. Apparently, Dena fell and injured herself and they chose to stay closed until she was well enough to come back. I don't have any more details as I am too cheap to pay the paper's outrageous online subscription price...

I am going too try Monari's this weekend. All the great things I keep reading about it I can hardly wait! As for Smitty's lunch it is from 11-1 but they just turn the grill off at 1 you can still get everything else including there big tenderlion.I am going tonight too eat there, it is wing night for those that have never tried there wings they are really good too.

kevin100 wrote:I am going too try Monari's this weekend. All the great things I keep reading about it I can hardly wait! As for Smitty's lunch it is from 11-1 but they just turn the grill off at 1 you can still get everything else including there big tenderlion.I am going tonight too eat there, it is wing night for those that have never tried there wings they are really good too.

I have heard about Smitty's wing nite. I am going to have to get over there for that(maybe tonight).

Do you know if Smitty's is open on Sunday's? I wanted to go there this past Sunday, but no one answered the phone. We ended up in Oglesby @ Garzanellis Supper Club instead.